The review procedure of death penalty is conducive to ensuring the correctness of the application of death penalty. People's understanding has a cyclical and spiraling process, and only after repeated tests can it gradually approach the objective reality. The same is true of litigation knowledge. Only through repeated procedures from investigation to prosecution and trial, from first instance to second instance and trial supervision, can public security judicial personnel gradually approach the objective facts of the case and minimize unjust, false and misjudged cases. Death penalty cases are usually more complicated and often require multiple tests. Not only that, people can't come back from the dead, and once the death penalty is executed, it can't be remedied, so it is more necessary to ensure the correctness of the death sentence. The establishment of the death penalty review procedure, on the basis of the first and second trial procedures, adds another inspection and guarantee mechanism for death penalty cases, which is of great significance to ensure the correct application of the death penalty.
The review procedure of death penalty is conducive to controlling the application of death penalty and realizing the criminal policy of killing less and killing carefully. Serious and prudent is the consistent policy of our party and country, and setting up the death penalty review procedure in the criminal procedure law is the concrete embodiment of implementing this policy. Through the review of the death penalty, decisions are made not to approve those judgments and rulings that are improperly applied to the death penalty, and different treatments are made according to legal procedures: those who are innocent or should be innocent due to insufficient evidence, correct the unjust case, release them immediately, and restore their freedom; For those criminals who are guilty but should not be sentenced to death, they can be sentenced to life imprisonment and fixed-term imprisonment according to different circumstances. Doing so will not only help prevent innocent manslaughter and abuse of the death penalty, but also avoid causing great losses to the country and citizens, and achieve good political results. Therefore, the death penalty review procedure is a reliable guarantee for insisting on killing less, killing cautiously and preventing indiscriminate killing.
13. The death penalty review procedure is also a key procedure to strictly regulate the death penalty and unify the law enforcement standards. Since the power to approve death penalty (death sentence with a reprieve) is exercised by the Supreme People's Court and the Higher People's Court, it is conducive to ensuring the unification of the execution scale of death penalty in terms of procedure and preventing the combination of leniency and severity among regions. But also help the Supreme People's Court and the Higher People's Court to find out the possible deviations and mistakes in the application of the death penalty in time, correct the wrong death sentence in time, sum up the experience and lessons of trial work on this basis, guide and urge the lower people's courts to improve the trial quality of death penalty cases, and ensure the unity and correctness of the application of the death penalty in the whole country and the whole province (city, autonomous region). The review of death penalty is a link of criminal procedure stipulated in the Criminal Procedure Law.
The Criminal Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) stipulates that the death penalty shall be submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval, except for those sentenced by the Supreme People's Court according to law. If the death penalty is suspended, it may be decided or approved by a higher people's court.
20 12 The specific provisions of the new criminal procedure law on the review procedure of death penalty;
Chapter IV Review Procedure of Death Penalty in Criminal Procedure Law
Article 235 The death penalty shall be approved by the Supreme People's Court.
Article 236 In a case of first instance in which the intermediate people's court sentenced the death penalty, if the defendant does not appeal, it shall be reviewed by the higher people's court and submitted to the Supreme People's Court for approval. If the Higher People's Court has any objection to the death penalty, it may send it back for retrial.
In the case of first instance where the Higher People's Court sentenced the death penalty, the defendant did not appeal, and in the case of second instance where the death penalty was imposed, it should be reported to the Supreme People's Court for approval.
Article 237 A case in which the intermediate people's court sentenced the death penalty with a two-year suspension of execution shall be approved by the higher people's court.
Article 238 The review of death penalty cases in the Supreme People's Court and cases with suspension of execution by the Higher People's Court shall be conducted by a collegial panel of three judges.
Article 239 When reviewing a death penalty case, the Supreme People's Court shall make a ruling to approve or disapprove the death penalty. If the death penalty is not approved, the Supreme People's Court can send it back for retrial or change the sentence.
Article 240th When reviewing a death penalty case, the Supreme People's Court shall interrogate the defendant, and the defense lawyer shall listen to his opinions according to his requirements.
In the process of reviewing death penalty cases, the Supreme People's Procuratorate can put forward opinions to the Supreme People's Court. The Supreme People's Court should inform the Supreme People's Procuratorate of the results of the death penalty review.
The Supreme People's Court's Notice on Authorizing the Higher People's Court and the Military Court of the People's Liberation Army to Approve Some Death Penalty Cases stipulates that the criminal law is divided into Chapter II (crimes against public security), Chapter IV (crimes against citizens' personal rights and democratic rights), Chapter V (crimes against property) and Chapter VI (crimes against social management order); ), Chapter VII (Crime of endangering national defense interests) and Chapter X (Crime of endangering military duties), the power to approve cases sentenced to death is authorized by the higher people's courts of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government and the military courts of the People's Liberation Army. Provided by China Criminal Defense Network.
The Supreme People's Court informed Yunnan, Guangdong, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, Sichuan, Gansu and Guizhou provinces to approve the death penalty for some drug crimes.
On June 65438+1 October1day, 2007, the Supreme Court reverted the delegated power of death penalty review to the Supreme People's Court, and added three death penalty review courts on the basis of the original Criminal Division I and Criminal Division II. Three criminal courts, four criminal courts and five criminal courts. Responsible for the review of death penalty cases throughout the country.